Ruptured Cruciates.

[Samsmum]

Hello Friends!
The following article was in today's Daily Express, and I am giving it below in the hope it might help someone who does not have the Express.

DOG'S KNEE OP BILLS PUZZLE ME.

Q. I have a seven-year old Gold Retriever with a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament in his knee. He weighs 40kgs. and I have been quoted between £1,500
and £2,500 for an operation to fix the problem. I can't understand the wide disparity in price.

A. (from Vet David Grant).
It depends on the type of oepration that will be required and the surgeon. I have seen many different procedures for ruptured cruciates.
The favoured operation when I qualified was to drill holes in the femur and thread nylon through the tunnels using buttons as an anchor.
Later the nylon was replaced by carbon fibre. More recently another operation to stabilise the join by using nylon has appeared.
The nylon is used to tighten the joint from the outside, after opening the join to check for damaged cartilages.
Increasingly for this procedure, large dogs like yours are referred to surgeons with advanced training. They may have a certificate in orthopaedic surgery or the diploma of the Royal College or the European College of Veterinary Surgeons.
Specialists may offer a very complicated procedure called a tibial plateau levelling osteotomy. This is thought to offer better long-term results. The range quoted is reasonable and in some practices could be more.
Hope your dog is suffering with this, but if anyone has, maybe the above information may help in some way.
Best wishes to all - Samsmum (Joyce).

[hairydog]

It may also be the anesthetic costs the bigger the dog, the more anethsia used, and that can be exensive..
HTH

[Mark Andrew]

We had our 8 year Retriever Ben diagnosed with this last year - The Cost of the Op including Scans was just over £1000 - it was done in October and he's made a full recovery with excellent results

[janrobinson]

In 1985 at the age of 5 my dear old Barney had his cruciate op on his right leg. Three years later he had the left leg done. He always was a clumsy dog but it is so easily done. He recovered really well from each op and lived to the ripe old age of 15 years. Each operation cost me £250. What a difference today